Coil for a magnetic resonance system

1. A coil arrangement comprising: an antenna operable in a mode selected from the group consisting of emitting magnetic resonance excitation signals and receiving magnetic resonance signals; and a transponder in fixed relation to said antenna, said transponder being electromagnetically excitable and, upon electromagnetic excitation, emitting a transponder signal containing coil-characteristic data.

2. A coil arrangement as claimed in claim 1 wherein said transponder is a passive transponder.

3. A coil arrangement as claimed in claim 2 wherein said transponder is electromagnetically excitable at a Larmor frequency of a magnetic resonance system in which said antenna is operated in said mode.

4. A coil arrangement as claimed in claim 1 wherein said transponder is composed of non-magnetic material.

5. A coil arrangement as claimed in claim 1 wherein said transponder includes a memory containing a type code for said antenna as said coil-characteristic data.

6. A coil arrangement as claimed in claim 1 wherein said transponder includes a memory containing a serial number for said antenna as said coil-characteristic data.

7. A coil arrangement as claimed in claim 1 wherein said transponder includes a memory containing a internal system code for said antenna as said coil-characteristic data.

8. A coil arrangement as claimed in claim 1 wherein said transponder includes a memory containing a system code for a magnetic resonance system in which said antenna is operated in said mode, as said coil characteristic data.

9. A coil arrangement as claimed in claim 1 wherein said transponder includes a memory containing operation-specific data for said antenna, as said coil-specific data.

10. A coil arrangement comprising: a radio-frequency magnetic resonance antenna; and a transponder in fixed relation to said antenna, said transponder comprising a transmission circuit including a control unit, a memory connected to said control unit containing coil-characteristic data, and a resonator operated by said control unit to emit a transponder signal containing said coil-characteristic data.

11. A coil arrangement as claimed in claim 10 wherein said memory contains coil-characteristic data selected from the group consisting of a type code for said antenna, a serial number for said antenna, an internal system code for said antenna, a system code for a magnetic resonance system in which said antenna is employed, and operation-specific data for said antenna.

12. A coil arrangement as claimed in claim 10 further comprising an excitation circuit connected to said control unit, said excitation circuit being electromagnetically excitable at a predetermined excitation frequency to energize said control unit to enable said resonator to emit said transponder signal.

13. A coil arrangement as claimed in claim 12 wherein said excitation circuit is electromagnetically excitable at a Larmor frequency of a magnetic resonance system in which said antenna is employed.